Desert Solitaire Is Not A Real Species

Greater Roadrunner. As if I've seen any other kind. She was scurrying to and fro, inside the campground.

The title of this post is some advice for The Jen, who famously used to hate birds. She has not seen desert birds, and must be thoroughly educated before embarking on her imminent southwestern road trip.

Edward Abbey once wrote something along the lines of "There is no shortage of water in the desert, but exactly the right amount." This is true. Any more water, and the desert would no longer be the desert. Have you seen what has happened to our more watered lands? The last thing the world needs is more stripmalls, and their overwhelmingly horrible occupants.What would become of the roadrunners and Cactus Wrens? The Zebra-tailed Lizards and rattlesnakes? The peace and quiet?

As much as I love the desert, my last trip into cactus country was meant to focus on an oasis...Agua Caliente County Park, which floats within the arid ocean that is the Anza Borrego Wilderness. This park, due to its natural springs, is quite verdant compared to the surrounding patches of cholla and ocotillo. Migrant birds love it. Therefore, I had to go. I have fond memories of skulking around famous birding oases from my more awkward years...Butterbredt Springs, Galileo Hill, Deep Springs, Furnace Creek Ranch. I was really impressed with the volume of birds moving through Agua Caliente, it must get it's share of rarer birds later in the northern diaspora...seekers beware.

Here's the first cluster of pictures, I think there's a few species that have never been on BB&B before....stoked? Yeah, me too.

I'm still working on getting the correct Costa's Hummingbird picture. This one is an improvement. How would you describe those colors on it's mustache? It's so refreshing to have things other than Anna's Hummingbirds to look at again.

Brewer's Sparrows love deserts so much, they spend the year touring them. Their summers are spent in the high deserts (Great Basin scrub), and winters are spent in Mexico and the desert southwest.

Brewer's Sparrows assert their dominance. They're proclivity for unique song-writing and energetic performance is unparalleled in the sparrow realms.

Luckily for me, this Wilson's Warbler chose a color-matching place to grab a drink of water. It's one of the most common western migrants in spring, but always leads to dilated pupils.

Don't look too hard, you're not going to find a bird in this photograph. Sorry. It's just a hedgehog cactus. I really like cactus....er, cacti. Me like bird too.

A female Black-throated Gray Warbler lashes a mesquite for insects. In other news, goddamn it is hard to get good warbler pictures.

White-winged Dove. It's a looker. Not quite a facemelter, but it could make you a bit weak in the knees.

This is a young White-winged Dove...it's got a dark eye and grayer facial skin than the more vivid bird above.

This female Black-tailed Gnatcatcher found a nugget of goodness amid the desert duff. If you ever are feeling sadistic, start teaching yourself how to identify silent female gnatcatchers without looking at the undertail. Hellish stuff.

This is the young male Costa's Hummingbird you met earlier in the week. Apparently his tongue is almost as long as his body. Showoff.

I have better Phainopepla pictures, but this is the only one that documents their ability to transform into an umbrella. Desert birds need to be able to handle anything, including rain.

Agave bloom! A wellspring of life in a sea of death. Bats and moths get off on this stuff.